This Warm Feeling
by i-like-rocks
Summary: It was kind of tattered, its appearance definitely that of a couch owned by a depressed man and his giant, furry dog. But it looked soft, and the blanket draped over the back completed a look of coziness. Cozy. Something Connor had experienced the first time he had wandered around Hank's home, but had not appreciated at the time.


Their hug lasted about thirty seconds. Connor all but melted into it, and Hank was happy he took to it well. It probably would have been awkward for both of them if he hadn't liked being hugged.

Hank patted him on the back a few times, while Connor buried his face into his jacket. When he pulled away, still smiling like he was when he first walked over, Hank couldn't help his own smile widening in response.

"Thank you," Connor said. "For everything. I-I'm really happy to have had you by my side."

"No problem, kid," Hank said, as a thought occurred to him. "Do you have a place to stay? Are you gonna live at Jericho or something?"

Connor's smile faltered. He looked down at his shoes while his LED flickered yellow for a few seconds.

"Markus said I would always have a place at Jericho, but I don't think the rest of the devi- people there would be too happy about my presence…" he explained quietly. He looked back up, but his LED was still yellow and his brows were furrowed. "I don't have my own house or property either. I don't even have any clothes besides these," he said, gesturing to his Cyberlife uniform.

"Well," Hank said, "I guess you're just gonna have to bunk with me and Sumo then, huh?" Hank was trying desperately to hide the smile pulling at his lips. And failing. He failed even harder when Connor's eyes lit up brighter than he'd ever seen them. His LED blinked back to a cheerful blue, he gave Hank a wide, toothy smile, and practically lunged forward and pulled Hank into another hug.

"Really? You really wouldn't mind me there?" He was near shouting, and his voice was raising in octaves, too.

"Of course I wouldn't mind you," Hank said. "Hell, I'd _prefer_ if you came home with me. I don't exactly want you out here on your own yet. You might get hurt…" Connor pulled back. He was still grinning, and maybe it was the morning light, but his eyes seemed to be shining with something as he nodded.

"C'mon," Hank said, putting his hand on Connor's back as they started walking to the car. "Let's get you home."

The ride home was quiet, but Connor seemed to be bursting with excitement. He wouldn't quit squirming and kept staring at Hank, and then out the window, and back again in a seemingly endless cycle. It was contagious, if Hank was honest. Suddenly he couldn't wait to get home either, and get Connor settled in, and fix that damn window, and-

They arrived, and Connor shot out of his seat and bolted to the door. Hank could hear Sumo barking, and Connor was already talking to him through the door, telling him he was a good boy before it was even _unlocked._ Hank got out of the car quicker than usual, and went about opening said door. Connor was bouncing on his heels, another bright grin etched on his face.

When at last the door was open, Sumo jumped up to greet them. After damn near knocking Hank down, he turned to Connor. Seeming to recognize him, Sumo was _very_ happy to see him again. Connor reciprocated those feelings very clearly, as he bent down to Sumo's level and squeezed him into a hug. The kid seemed to love hugging. Hank couldn't really blame him when it came to Sumo, though.

"You don't mind sleeping on the couch, do you?" Hank asked. "Wait, do you sleep? Do you need to plug into the wall or something, because I can get you a beanbag chair or a sleeping bag and set you up near a socket and do you even have a charger? Did you come with one? Where does it plug in? Do-"

"I'm fine on the couch, Hank," Connor said in an assuring voice. He had never seen the Lieutenant this nervous, had never really heard him _rant_ like that before. Getting up from the ground (Sumo had lost interest and left for his food bowl), Connor made his way to the couch in question.

It was kind of tattered, its appearance definitely that of a couch owned by a depressed man and his giant, furry dog. But it looked soft, and the blanket draped over the back completed a look of coziness.

_Cozy._ Something Connor had experienced the first time he had wandered around Hank's home, but had not appreciated at the time. Deciding to test out his theory on the softness of the couch, Connor sat down almost cautiously. He sank in much further than expected, almost being engulfed by the cushions, causing a small, undignified noise to escape his throat. He felt a hand grab his arm, and he was gracelessly yanked out of the couch.

"Sorry," Hank started, "forgot about that… You've gotta sit on the left side of the couch since the right side does that…" Hank grabbed a large, stiff looking pillow and jammed it under the collapsed cushion, propping it up. "You can still sort of put your feet up on the right side, though!" He said, proudly showing off his jury-rigged handy work. Connor couldn't help but laugh. A genuine laugh. His first ever laugh.

Hank froze on the spot. The house was now silent aside from Sumo's loud snoring. Connor was just as shocked as Hank, looking down at his feet in thought, LED yellow as he processed the warm feeling spreading steadily through his systems. Now was Hank's turn to laugh, slow and quiet, slightly unsure, before it became loud and confident, startling Connor out of his daze. More of that warm feeling; happiness, joy, glee.

Connor found he rather liked this feeling. Very different from the first emotions he ever felt. Panic, guilt, absolute and consuming terror. He would give almost anything to always feel this way, to banish the horrible feelings of before from his memory and replace them with this.

Hank had settled his laughter down and moved to the kitchen, still smiling softly. Connor followed, unsure of what else to do. Not having a looming task was strange. It was something he would undoubtedly have to get used to. For the time being, though, a little direction couldn't hurt.

Hank had pulled some leftovers out of the fridge, leftovers that Connor didn't need to scan to know were ridiculously unhealthy.

**[Fix the Lieutenant's diet]**

There. A task at the back of his mind. Something to follow. _Something made by him, _Connor thought elatedly. This task would take time, but it would be worth it.

"What's going on in that big head of yours, huh Connor?" Hank said. He was smiling up at Connor from where he had taken a seat at the table. Connor sat down across from him and attempted to keep his features serious.

"I think we should go grocery shopping sometime this week and find some… healthier alternatives for your consumption," Connor said, throwing a pointed look at the greasy pizza (not a vegetable in sight) that Hank was currently eating. Hank rolled his eyes.

"This is what I get for taking you in? Nagged for eating stuff that tastes half decent?" Hank said, chuckling lightly.

"I'm just saying," Connor said as he leaned back in his chair. "You shouldn't eat that."

"Yeah, yeah, ya goofball."


End file.
